Method of forming a plug for electrical conductors



y 7, 1958 R. MARTINES 2,835,959

METHOD OF FORMING A PLUG FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Original Filed 001.1, 1948 06 G CD INVENTOR. REN E MARTIN ES ATTORNEYS lVIETHGD F FDRNHNG APLUG FOR ELECTRICAL CGNDUCTORS Rene l'tiartines, Warwick, R. i.

Continuation of applications Serial No. 52,357, October 1, 1948, andfierial No. 196301, November 21, 1950. This application August 2%),1954, Serial No. 451,166

2 Claims. (Ci. 29-15555) This invention relates to a wire terminal for abase plug and is a continuation of my applications Serial No. 52,357,filed October 1, 1948, now abandoned and Serial No. 196,901, filedNovember 21, 1950 now abandoned.

Wire terminals for the male plug for plugging into a base or othersocket is required to be of a certain thickness for uniformity and formaking contact with the female portions of the receiving socket. Thisusually requires the cutting out of the blades from a piece of stockwhich will be of the thickness required, and frequently provides edgeswhich need to be smoothed up in order to prevent undue abrasion withmaterials with which they may Contact.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a blade which will beof less weight and less stock than blades heretofore provided.

Another obiect of this invention is to provide a blade which althoughformed of less weight stock will be of greater stiffness than bladesheretofore provided.

Another object of this invention is to provide a blade which will have abetter finished edge than blades heretofore provided.

Another object of this invention is to provide these blades in stripform connected together at such a location that when severed, thelocation of severing will be within the plug when the blades areassembled therein.

Another object of this invention is to provide the blades inside-by-side parallel relation in the strip and sufliciently spaced sothat stock from between the blades may be utilized for wrapping aboutthe wires to firmly hold the wires assembled with the blades.

A still further object of the invention is to provide blades inside-by-side spaced relation with a web holding them in position andsevering this web on a single line to give a projection that willfrictionally engage a plug body when assembled therein and resistmovement of the blade within the plug.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

in the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a strip of terminals formed in accordancewith this invention;

Figure 2 is a bottom view looking at the under side of these terminals;

Figure 3 is a sectional view through one of the. terminals on line 33 ofFigure 1;

Figure 4 is a section on line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a pair of terminals assembled upon apair of wires;

Figure 7 is a sectional view illustrating a plug with the pair ofterminals and wires assembled therein;

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the strip of terminals before theterminals are folded to form the blades in two plies; and

Figure 9 is a sectional view on line 9-9 of Figure 7 ice illustratingthe frictional engagement of the terminal with the plug body.

In proceeding with this invention I cut from a sheet of stock, which isof a gauge less than that required for blades, a plurality of terminalsin which the blades are of double the length of their final form, andthen I flange and fold t.e blades upon themselves so that the flangescontact and the blades become stiffened by reason of the flanges toprovide a blade stifier than usual and a blade in which there are twoplies of material spaced one from the other. Flanging provides afinished smooth edge which is very desirable in the terminal. Theconnection between the parallel terminals is such that when theterminals are assembled in a male plug, the points of severing from astrip of terminals are also concealed within the male plug.

With reference to the drawings, and particularly Figure 8, 1t?designates a strip of blades which are cut out from sheet stockcomprising a plurality of identical formations which are later to becomeidentical units of terminals such as at 11, 12, 13, and so forth. Eachof these formations such as 11 comprises blade sections 14 and 15 whichare spaced from similar blade sections of the next formation. There is ashank 16 from which opposite arms 17 and 1% extend and another pair ofopposite arms 19 and 24 extend. The arms are in the shape of righttriangles laterally extending from a center portion of each shank tocomplement each other and form two parallelograms on each shank. Thesearms being diagonally cut extend from the body a greater distance thanthat between the centers of the blades and provide sufficient materialto fully grasp the wire and insulation, as shown in Figure 6. Holes 21and 22 are formed in the blade sections 14 and 15. Webs 26 allow theextent of the arms to be greater than the distance between centers andtherefore provide optimum wrapping of the insulation and the wire over alarge range of sizes which could not result if the edges of the bladesabutted.

The blade section 14 is bent at an obtuse angle as at 32 and both bladesections 14 and 15, as shown in Figure 4, are provided with flanges,there being the flanges 23 on the blade section 14 and the flanges 24 onthe blade section 15. The arms 17, 13, 19, and 24) are bent upwardly atthe same time the bending operation occurs to bend the flanges upwardlyafter which the blade sections 14 and 15 are doubled upon themselves asat 25 (see Figure 3) so as to cause the holes 21 and 22 to register asshown in Figure 3 and the flanges 23 and 24 to abut, as shown in Figure4 with the obtuse portion 32 as shown in Figure 3.

The connection or web portion 26 between the units 11, 12, 13 and soforth will remain as illustrated in Figures l, 2, and 8; thus, thisstrip of terminals thus bent up and formed and as now appearing inFigures 1 and 2 may be advanced forwardly in a machine or apparatus forattaching them to wires such as 23 and 29, as shown in Figure 6. At thetime, or just subsequent to the time, of attachment of the wires to theterminals such as by bending the arms 17 and 18 about the insulation andthe arms 19 and 2% about the bare wire, this severing of the sectionsinto units will occur as shown in Figure 6 where the blades are nowdesignated 30. The point of severance is at 31. T he male plug isdesignated 33 and it will be noted that the shank 16 of the portion 31where severance occurs, as well as the portion 32 which extendslaterally of the blade, are within the plug and serve to provide a goodgrip on the plug, help to hold the blade 30 in position, and conceal andprotect any rough severed edges.

The husk of the plug 33 is formed of rubber or a synthetic rubber-likematerial which is elastic. The blades 30, as shown in Figure 6, may beassembled with the condoctors 28 and 29 and then forced into the opening35 anddown through; the recesses 36 in the, plug to emerge froman'opening 38 whilethe angular end 32 will engage shoulders 37 in therecesses 36 to limit-the movement of the blades through the plug.Additionally, the webs 26 will frictionally engage the walls of, therecess36 and serve to prevent movement of the blades in the planethereof. There isa suflicient elasticity andyielding of the plug so thatthese'parts may be assembled in this manner. It will thus be seen thatthe raw edge 31 of the terminal ishoused in the body ot'the plug andwill not abrade theuser. The sharp edge, however, serves well in holdingthe blade in the husk as it'te'nds to dig into the elastic material.

I claim: 7 V V 1. The method of forming a plug for electrical conductorscomprising cutting from sheet metal stock a strip of spaced parallelblades having a shank portion for each blade and separated-from saidblade by a web portion which also joins adjacent blades, each shankhaving a plurality of'right triangular portions laterally extending froma center portion to complement each other and form two adjacent centeredparallelogranis on each shank,

, bending each blade atone end to form substantially a right angle andfurther bending each blade to form a twoply blade, bending each righttriangle shank portion inwardly' and mutually toward each other toembrace a wire, severing each web along a single line to form individualterminals with a protruding web portion, and providing a plug body aboutthe blades in such a manner that said plug body covers the angle end,the shank portions; an'cljthe severed webs frictionally held in the plugbody.

2. The method of forming a plug for electrical con doctors comprisingcutting from sheet metaltstock a strip of spaced parallel blades havinga shank portion for each receiving means to receiveia Wire, severingeach web along a single line to form individual terminals with aprotruding web portion, and'providing a plug body about the blades insuch a manner that said plug body covers the angle ends, the shankportions, and the severed Webs leaving the otherportions of the bladeextending from the plug body, saidweb being frictionally held in th'eplug body.

ReterencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS BergJuly 29,

V leaving theother portions of 'the blade extending from the plug body,said web being

